Everything that you do is not going to go right the first time. Heck, it may not go right the second or third time either. That’s just the way life is. Sometimes things go wrong. Sometimes you try something and you fail. Sometimes you really want to be good at something but you’re just not … not at first at least. Part of being successful at anything is being willing to fail. Often you’ll have to fail many times before you find something that works. If you let one failure knock you down and then you give up, you’re not giving yourself much of a chance. You need to be able to fail, get up, and try again. Try it differently. Try something new. Try harder. Just try again. If you really want it, you’ll try again.
You can’t expect to avoid failure. The person who never fails isn’t really trying. The person who never fails never grows and never learns from their mistakes.
This blog was definitely not the first blog or website I made. Like many online entrepreneurs I’ve left a trail of abandoned websites in my path. Each one taught me a valuable lesson. Some websites taught me that I really wanted to help people. Others taught me that I shouldn’t pretend to be something I’m not. Others taught me to follow my heart.
They have all taught me that there is no quick fix or magic recipe for success. Most of the time what is necessary is steady consistent action. You need to have the discipline to keep going when you start to lose your footing. When you’re trying to learn something as completely as you possibly can you need to plow through the boredom of doing the same thing again and again, and the frustration that comes when don’t see results as quickly as you would like.
My failures have taught me that when you get knocked down you have two choices: give up or get up. I like getting back up, but my trail of abandoned websites makes it clear that I know when to give up too. There are appropriate times for each choice and it’s up to you to decide when those are .. but don’t let the fear of failure make you give up even before you start.
Life is not perfect. You cannot avoid failures or mistakes. If you really want to do something you have to be willing to do it badly at first. You have to be willing to get it wrong and to make mistakes. That’s the way you learn. That’s the way you get better. That’s the way you find success.
Embrace failure. Make it your friend. Don’t run from it; learn from it. With each stumble you get stronger and closer to success.
